The present invention relates searchlight lamp tilting or elevating mechanisms for tilting or elevating light beams from a searchlight in a vertical plane.
In one conventional searchlight lamp tilting mechanism, a light source including a lamp, a reflector and a socket is supported rotatably around a horizontal axis. A sectoral toothed segment is fixed at a rear end of the light source, and a pinion meshing with the segment is attached to the output shaft of a motor. When the motor rotates the pinion, the toothed segment is moved vertically to thereby rotate the light source within a predetermined angle around the horizontal axis.
This mechanism, however, has the defect that if the searchlight is attached, for example, to a ship, and subjected invariably to possible vibrations, the teeth of the segment and pinion would be worn. If the toothed segment and pinion are made of a plastic material, the teeth may be broken by the vibrations.
It is necessary to cause the segment and pinion to mesh accurately with each other because if a possible backlash between the meshing teeth is small, the friction between the teeth is large, so that it is impossible to rotate the pinion by the force of the motor. If the backlash is large, vibrations would cause a backlash to thereby break and wear the teeth and swing the light beams.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a searchlight lamp tilting mechanism which is free from a failure such as would occur due to possible abrasion and breakage of the teeth in the conventional technique, and easy to assemble.